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Classic/Mini consoles


Lago

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I was looking this over and wondering if I was missing any.  Here’s what I have found so far:

NES Classic 

SNES Classic 

PlayStation Classic

Sega Genesis Mini

TurboGrafx 16 mini (preorder) apparently doesn’t come with a power supply.

is the TG-16 a Japan exclusive?  When I pull it up on Amazon it says Konami jp.

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If you're going after the "quality" mini consoles,  I'd add the C64 Mini or upcoming C64 with functional keyboard. I would avoid anything produced by AtGames or prior to the release of the NES Mini.

If you want to get in the weeds, you can also get Japanese and/or European versions of the mini consoles. Some of them have different packaging and plastic shells while others have different games lists. There is even a special Shonen Jump gold Famicom Mini which is pretty cool.

As for the TG-16, it is coming to North America, but has been delayed repeatedly. You can actually go on Amazon Japan right now and order a PC Engine Mini or CoreGrafx Mini for essentially the same price and get it in about a week. The games list is the same with no difference in the number of Japanese vs English releases. I've had a blast with it and highly recommend it.

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3 minutes ago, CasualCart said:

The format is a bit different from the 'traditional' mini consoles, but there is also the Neo Geo mini. I haven't played one in person, but the reviews on Youtube are a mixed bag.

-CasualCart

I forgot about that one. I wish they'd do a straight up Neo Geo Mini console. The added costs of the screen and extra controllers along with the ridiculous number of fighting games really discourages me from getting one of those. In fact, it's the only mini "console" I don't have.

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Graphics Team · Posted
50 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

I forgot about that one. I wish they'd do a straight up Neo Geo Mini console. The added costs of the screen and extra controllers along with the ridiculous number of fighting games really discourages me from getting one of those. In fact, it's the only mini "console" I don't have.

Agreed. To be honest, all I really want is an official Neo Geo console that uses an AES-style arcade stick and plays Blazing Star and Neo Turf Masters. That would be ideal. 

-CasualCart

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@CasualCart @DoctorEncore  Thanks for bringing up the C64 and Neo Geo mini.  I am only looking at things NES Classic and after.  
 

I followed the link on the c64 and it doesn’t look like it comes with an AC adapter either.  Is there a particular one you guys recommend for the TG and C64 mini?

Slightly off topic but have you guys looked into the consolized MVS?  That might be something you guys are interested in.

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Administrator · Posted

My knock against the C64 mini is the garbage controller it came with.   System itself was well done.

1 hour ago, CasualCart said:

The format is a bit different from the 'traditional' mini consoles, but there is also the Neo Geo mini. I haven't played one in person, but the reviews on Youtube are a mixed bag.

-CasualCart

   There's two different Neo Geo Minis.   One allows you to plug in a few controllers and connect it to a TV, and the other is just a mini arcade.

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Homebrew Team · Posted
6 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

   There's two different Neo Geo Minis.   One allows you to plug in a few controllers and connect it to a TV, and the other is just a mini arcade.

Talking about the Neo Geo X Gold? Or something different?

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Graphics Team · Posted

There's the Neo Geo X from a few years back (which wouldn't be considered a 'mini' console), the Neo Geo Mini (which is the small arcade cab that you can plug controllers in and output to a TV), and the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro (which is a plug-n-play and I believe is only limited to fighting games right now). The Neo Geo X was a perfect concept, but it was executed horribly and got discontinued. I've also heard that SNK is developing a new unit aside from the Mini and the Arcade Stick Pro, but I don't know much about it yet.

-CasualCart

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38 minutes ago, Lago said:

@CasualCart @DoctorEncore  Thanks for bringing up the C64 and Neo Geo mini.  I am only looking at things NES Classic and after.  
 

I followed the link on the c64 and it doesn’t look like it comes with an AC adapter either.  Is there a particular one you guys recommend for the TG and C64 mini?

Slightly off topic but have you guys looked into the consolized MVS?  That might be something you guys are interested in.

Are you talking original release year or mini console release year? Because the Neo Geo Mini and C64 Mini both came out several years after the NES Classic.

I don't use an AC adapter, I just plug the power cord into the USB port on my TV. I think the only mini console that actually came with an adapter was the original NES Classic. All subsequent releases ditched it to save cost. Here is the adapter so you can get one with similar characteristics if you need one.

IMG_20200426_120029.thumb.jpg.77543e8f9b98270dddd287e748c5a1e5.jpg

I'd love to get an MVS some day, but we were talking about the mini Neo Geo Cabinet thing. They also have an arcade stick with games on it, as discussed by some of the others in this thread. Neither is really ideal from my perspective.

Screenshot_20200426-120806.jpg.2fde8d73b25431f830c2a26ab18c8f18.jpg

31 minutes ago, captmorgandrinker said:

My knock against the C64 mini is the garbage controller it came with.   System itself was well done.

   There's two different Neo Geo Minis.   One allows you to plug in a few controllers and connect it to a TV, and the other is just a mini arcade.

I heard the controller was terrible in the original release. They are claiming the full keyboard version has a much better controller. I'll probably get it when it releases in NA.

I think the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro is definitely the better of the two options since you actually get a useable controller. That being said, I just want an MVS Mini. 😭

23 minutes ago, Deadeye said:

Talking about the Neo Geo X Gold? Or something different?

He's talking about the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro. It's got the emulation and games within the actual controller. You can hook up additional controllers to it. It seems like the better option of the two Neo Geo items available.

Screenshot_20200426-120632.thumb.jpg.38eac399b08cc8d172a898cd09d6016e.jpg

Edited by DoctorEncore
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Well Dr Encore and the others before by name w/out pictures beat me to it.  I have the Neo Geo Mini and have had it since last year.

About a year and a half ago SNK released the Neo Geo Mini and there was a JP version (with 4 colored buttons and red/white highlights) and the the Int'l version which is just in muted grays in that same space.  It is in fact both a tabletop arcade game and a mini console by design.

The Neo-Geo Mini supports on the left/right side a 1P and 2P controller sold separately.  In the rear you have a power button, usb-c jack for power (cable but no adapter included), and then the mini-HDMI port.  The tabletop mode has a fantastic clean, clear solid response time LCD in action, the buttons and stick are comfy, I've had no issue with demanding fighters or your usual shooters, puzzles, metal slugs, etc.  But if you want to use it as a mini console, using a MiniHDMI to HDMI cable at the very minimum you can run a line to your TV and just rest the unit in your lap as a joystick.  Or you can pay around $20/ea and get a couple controllers mostly modeled after the NeoCD home gamepads and then really go at it like a dedicated mini console.

It is everything the NeoGeoX wished it was as far as quality goes.  The NGX was nicely designed in theory, but the broken stolen emulators and other problems Tommo created turned it into an epic disaster unless you hacked it and used a literally hacked up and re-writed SD card adapter to load a proper OS and set of ROMS to it. The dock on the Tommo device for TV play despite having HDMI it really wasn't.  The output was the same as a cheap chinese fami-clone console that just spits 240p over HDMI with no clean up or filtering so it just looks and responds awful, basically might as well just use the RCA cable it came with anyway.

 

The NGM is 100% a mini console/mini arcade system and very worth owning.  People have had a time of trying to crack it, it's not easy like the hakchi works around for the others, but progress is still being made to chip away at it to load whatever you want but it's not quite there yet, at least safely.  They are easy enough though I've read to mod if you want it as a handheld, there's enough space inside to add a rechargeable battery if you care to mod it.

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On 4/26/2020 at 3:35 PM, Tanooki said:

People have had a time of trying to crack it, it's not easy like the hakchi works around for the others, but progress is still being made to chip away at it to load whatever you want but it's not quite there yet, at least safely.  They are easy enough though I've read to mod if you want it as a handheld, there's enough space inside to add a rechargeable battery if you care to mod it.

And here I thought “ease of hacking” was an unadvertised feature of these mini consoles.

I sort of want all of them to throw their respective libraries into and make a “mini-museum” in my sons room.

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8 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

And here I thought “ease of hacking” was an unadvertised feature of these mini consoles.

I sort of want all of them to throw their respective libraries into and make a “mini-museum” in my sons room.

I had a modded NES classic and the lag was as bad as an emulator. I ended up just getting Everdrives and using original hardware. All of my mini consoles are boxed up in the closet now.

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I've never noticed this perceived lag issue on the NES mini console, you sure it's not your TV driving the problem?

 

And yeah, ease of hacking has been the unadvertised feature of most of the mini consoles.  Even the TG16/PCE has been broken in the last few days it appears already, or at least in private it has.  The NGM though, it's not that it can't be done, it's a hardware issue I had read that was causing it.  For some really bizarre reason when this notable guy who was driving the project to do so was doing it, some of the systems would get partly fried on the hardware.  If I remember right there's a sub-PCB board under the CPO for the controls and it was frying a component on there making it basically useless because with broken control = broken play.  But the weirdest of it was, it wasn't all systems, so like there were PCB revisions for the stick I guess.  SO it could be busted open, but you're playing with matches on your person system hoping it won't commit suicide as a result.  I know a work around was being attempted and still is at this rate last I checked.

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On 4/29/2020 at 11:04 PM, Lago said:

Just snagged the Neo-Geo international off of Amazon.  If anybody is wanting one they are $30 right now.

I did just the same.  At that price point, it's hard to say no.  Besides, I never had a NeoGeo, so it's a way to experience it.  

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9 hours ago, Tulpa said:

A number of people have reported the lag issue.

 

Yeah, the lag on the NES Mini is pretty depressing. Still, it's hard to say if it's really terrible, or if we just know certain games so well (SMB, Mega Man), that we really notice it. I had the same issue with the SNES Mini and SMW. I will say that the PC Engine Mini has some very demanding shooters and I haven't felt like the lag is a problem at all. Not sure if it's my unfamiliarity with the games or if the emulation really is better. I haven't seen any objective tests of input lag for it yet.

That being said, most people on these forums know these mini console aren't the best place to play. Instead they're just a fun diversion and a cool display piece.

Edited by DoctorEncore
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1 hour ago, DoctorEncore said:

Yeah, the lag on the NES Mini is pretty depressing. Still, it's hard to say if it's really terrible, or if we just know certain games so well (SMB, Mega Man), that we really notice it.

Punch-Out!! is supposed to be the worst offender. People have reported Mr. Dream goes from balls hard to almost impossible.

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The better you know the game, the more noticeable the lag will be.  Any game that you've played enough to develop muscle memory from will be nearly unplayable when lag is introduced.  For me, I have a hard time playing NES and SNES games on emulators or anything else else with lag.  However, I have very little trouble playing TG16 games on emulators because I don't have the experience with those games.  

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